Kimberly Cates-Meraz

Project Portfolio

Learner-centered instructional designer creating engaging, outcome-driven learning that aligns with organizational goals.

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I grew up on the small island of St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands, but our roots in Texas took my family back to the Texas Gulf Coast after a devastating hurricane wiped out our island my senior year in high school. I stayed in Texas to pursue my Bachelor of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies at Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi. My career began as a sixth grade science teacher at a Title I school in Clute, Texas. Early on, I realized how technology could help engage students through the development of more engaging lessons and implementing gamification. My school district provided extensive professional development opportunities and helped me pursue my Master of Science degree in Computer Education and Cognitive Systems (Instructional Technology) through the University of North Texas. While I remained a classroom teacher, the school district utilized my skills to support faculty and staff as an instructional technologist throughout the school year and during summer professional development training, as well as new software or hardware rollouts.My passion for technology integration evolved with my teaching career, I transitioned from the science classroom to an audio video production and multimedia teacher at the high school level. During this time I facilitated student learning by using a project based approach, providing students with foundational skills to develop their own digital products. This role led me to Career and Technical Education as a CTE Specialist, coaching and supporting teachers as they transitioned from the industry to the classroom.With over 20 years of education and instructional technology experience, I specialize in developing learner-centered designs for ILT (instructor-led training), vILT(virtual instructor-led training), eLearning, and blended formats. I create engaging, outcome-driven learning experiences that align with organizational goals and meet diverse learner needs. My expertise covers the full instructional design lifecycle, from preparation and needs analysis to iteration design, development and implementation, using tools like Articulate 360, Camtasia, Adobe Creative Cloud, and LMS platforms including Canvas and Cornerstone. I also have experience in SharePoint site design and content curation and management. I supported digital transformation during the pandemic, and developed both synchronous and asynchronous solutions that drove measurable results. I am passionate about innovation and designing purposeful learning experiences that inspire, inform, and make an impact.

Workplace Safety Compliance Training

The Workplace Safety Compliance Training is a barebones prototype project I developed to highlight basic instructional design skills in a more compact product.Articulate Storyline 360, Canva, Adobe Express, ChatGPT

Student Employee Supervisor Training

I managed all phases of this particular project from inception to completion. I worked with three different departments and seven SMEs. They provided three different slide presentations, representing needs from each of the three departments as the foundation for the information. We worked together to develop a script, formative assessments, and overall design. This project was completed in a very tight timeframe, 12 weeks from the first meeting to LMS integration.Articulate Storyline 360, Camtasia, Canva, Adobe Express, ChatGPT

Using Cornerstone Learning

This project was created in response to new professional development requirements for faculty and staff. It was determined they needed support with navigating, locating training, and uploading training documentation on the Cornerstone Learning LMS platform. I worked closely with the Cornerstone Learning Manager to develop this product in a very short timeframe, 8 weeks start to finish.Articulate Storyline 360, Camtasia, Canva, Adobe Express

Employee Engagement Survey Commercial 2025

This video was created to highlight and increase participation in an employee engagement survey for San Jacinto College.Adobe Premeire Pro, Adobe After Effects, Canon R5 Mark II, Rode Microphone

Navigating Learner Home - Cornerstone Learning

Microlearning Video Sample: This video was created to give a short lesson on navigating learner home within our LMS.Camtasia

Train the Trainer

Defining Training Objectives
This video was part of a blended learning Train the Trainer series where the participants would receive their initial training through an elearning experience, view a series of videos, and complete assignments prior to the first face-to-face instructor led meeting.Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects

I Will Statements 2.0

Our school district required that each teacher have learning objectives posted for each lesson. Those learning objectives must also be tied back to language objectives to enhance language acquisition and development. I was asked to create a video explaining how to do "I Will Statements" and extend it to include language objectives.Powtoon

Colorful Overlapping Text Tutorial

This is a sample of the short microlearning videos/tutorials I created and embedded into Canvas LMS as part of my Animation I course to allow my students to access these resources on-demand.This is part 1 of a 2 part video series designed to work on some photoshop skills using text, layer styles, groups, and overlays. This is a basic lesson that should be easy to follow for any beginner in Photoshop.Screencastify, Adobe Photoshop